Menu Planning (a.k.a. Saving Money)

Everyone wants to save money on the every day stuff right? Well, I certainly do and I'm always trying to find a way to get something on sale or to cut my costs. Since I am a stay at home wife and mom and am responsible for the grocery shopping (boo) and cooking (yay!) it's up to me to find those deals on the foods we love. By the way, the title "stay at home" really bugs me. I really need to find some different word that encompasses all we do.

Anyway, I digress. So, awhile back (late summer) I stumbled on a few blogs that talked about menu planning. And I was hooked! August started me off with a bang and I only spent $250 on groceries for our family of four. That was about $150 less than we normally spent. With careful planning I tend to spend anywhere from $120-200 per month. I do my planning for the whole month and then tweak it every two weeks when I go shopping. That's right, I only shop for groceries twice a month (!!) with the following exceptions:
1. MILK- we can't seem to keep it in the fridge, and that's something the hubs has to get every so often from CVS or wherever he is close to.
2. Pampered Chef parties- I am a consultant and try to bring at least one recipe with me to each party. If I don't already have the stuff on hand, I'll make a stop.

How do I plan? Well, I'm a visual person, I like to see lists and everything laid out before me. Here's what I came up with to start. I wrote out a grid- calendar style- and wrote what types of food I normally cook, writing in the times we knew we'd be out of town/eating out and days we would eat leftovers. (You know that big pot of chili lasts at least two days!) Then, I made a master list of what ingredients I would need for each meal. That took the longest time, but I saved it on my phone in the Out of Milk app so I could use it over and over.

After eliminating the ingredients I had in the cabinet or fridge already (salt, baking powder, butter, etc.) I had my shopping list. I cut it down based on the next two weeks and was ready to go! For me impulse buying is just second nature. But if I have my list I am way less likely to spend an extra $20 on things we really don't need. Next, I made a very crude menu board. That way it was easy for me to see what I was cooking each day that week.

 

As you can see it was quick and dirty. But, it was effective and so I had that for about three months. Plus, now I didn't cringe or get frustrated when my family asked the dreaded question "What's for dinner?!" Now they could see the menu! My love of Pinterest had me pinning all sorts of ideas for a new and improved menu board and right before my birthday I made one. Starting out I was going to keep it for myself, but after talking with my best friend I realized it would be a great birthday present for her the following month. Click here for complete details on constructing a menu board like this.



 Then, SURPRISE! My sister had seen me pinning away and made a wonderful menu board for me as a birthday present.

 

You can't quite see it in the pictures, but each of the colored papers are paint sample swatches and each one has a food name. My favorite is Lemonade Slush. Yum. Hopefully this helps you out in not only saving $$$, but having an answer for your family on "What's for dinner?".

Melanie